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Tag Archives: mental lapses

Early February, when the Knicks were thin at PG, Carmelo and Amare were suffering from injuries, and the Knicks were reeling. Here comes Jeremy Lin. An Asian American who played ball at Harvard, goes undrafted and skips from team to team prior to landing with the Knicks. When Melo was injured, the Knicks perimeter offense became stagnant, and thus inept. A perfect time for a combo guard as Lin to take advantage and show what he is made of. Lin took advantage of the opportunity, and didn’t look back for about 3-4 weeks. His signature moment against the Lakers: 38 points.

Still, at the time the “Linsanity” hype didn’t cast a a large cloud over the NBA, but networks needed another sensation after “Tebowmania” so Linsanity became the lead story on every network. However, the biggest challenge was how he would mesh with the likes of Stat and Melo when they return from injury. Until then, Lin had to carry the load, while most of us wondered if he would sustain the level of play. Lin didn’t play perfect, and he didn’t make many a believer. I was intrigued by his game and the hype and tuned in to Knicks game to see if he would dominate. I tuned into the Nets – Knicks game that took place in MSG, and conventionally, descending became inevitable. Deron Williams torched the Knicks, mainly Lin, uncovered the flaws that were ignored in Lin’s game and labeled “they will improve, but he has it”.

Oh, and I’m no hater. A team didn’t gameplan for Lin, rather allowed Lin to create his own shots and limit him from frequently going to the lane and force him left because he was terrible going left. The Dallas Mavericks created the blueprint, while the Miami Heat embarrassed him. Chalmers was in Lin’s s!@#. The most consistent aspect of Lin’s game is the constant turnovers and mental lapses. The most absurd thing about “Linsanity” is the money being thrown his way because of his profound global presence. Why would the Knicks want to sign an offer sheet that would guarantee him $14.5 million in his third and final year of his contract? Financially, it puts them in a hole and Lin only played a decent 25 games?

Below is an excerpt from a article written by Sam Amick of SI explaining the affect of signing Lin:

“Matching Lin’s offer would have a major impact on the Knicks’ payroll, with the numbers surely daunting even for an organization that — with an assist from Lin — always rakes in the dough. Matching the Lin offer means the Knicks would likely be slated to pay approximately $79 million for just five players in the 2014-15 season, at which point the price tag would start skyrocketing because of the tax implications. Starting in 2013-14, teams that are less than $5 million over the luxury tax threshold (which isn’t yet known for that year but will likely be around $70 million) pay $1.50 for every dollar they are over the tax, while teams that are between $5 million and $10 million over pay $1.75 for every dollar over, teams that are $10 to $15 million over pay $2.50 for every dollar over and teams that are $15 to $20 million over pay $3.25 for every dollar over and there are subsequent fifth center increases for each additional $5 million over. And should a team stay in the tax for four out of five seasons, those rates increase by a dollar in each respective category. A financial day of reckoning awaits, in other words.“